Restaurants in the Beira Baixa

There are many restaurants, cafés, snackbars and padarias in the Beira Baixa. How can you know which ones are good? We have asked around and people came up with their top-3 lists. Below you'll find all the tips in these people's own words.

• Castelo Branco
• Covilha
• Fundão
• Idanha-a-nova
• Orca
• São Miguel de Acha

• Retiro do Caçador
  Prices: medium
  Short description: À la carte menu with daily specials. Regional Portuguese. As the name suggests it has game meats, often wild boar stew or venison stew. Good portions and good wines too. Used by locals, even the municipal cleaners use it.

• Japanese restaurant "Kobe"
  Prices: average
  Short description: Diner, one price, all you can eat (not only sushi but all kinds of small Japanese dishes, that you order by the 4-5 as many times as you like), reservation needed
• Taberna A Laranjinha
  Prices: medium to expensive
  Short description: À la carte menu with sharing plates. Portuguese with invention. Definitely a place to treat yourself or visiting friends and family. Michelin noted. Has a tavern feel with friendly staff
• Casa das Muralhas
  Prices: expensive
  Short description: Contemporary Portuguese. This is a 3* hotel with a modern bistro restaurant. Modern interpretation of Portuguese produce, with plating to match. Take your mum especially if she is paying. Very good wine list too with Beira wines and beyond. It is a treat place but good service and a boutique hotel if you want to put up family visitors in style.

• Padária "flor do Fundão" (opposite of the "posto de GNR")
  Prices: low
  Short description: Lunch, all sorts of delicious fresh bread and sweet pastry, about 10 types of different pizzas with lots of filling.
• Restaurant "Na Brasa"
  Prices: low
  Short description: Lunch and dinner, small place, typical Portuguese. All meat, chicken and sausages from the grill with salad (ask for it) and chips. Tip: ask for "mixta", you'll get all sorts from the grill, imo the entremeada are the very best.
• Restaurante "Fonte nova"
  Prices: low (the most expensive is beef steak, 15 euros).
  Short description: Typical Portuguese family-restaurant, very sweet people: we came one day with 5 of us, 2 older ladies 80+, they were closed because of a birthday-celebration but didn't want to send us away, so the owner called the lady who serves the plates at home and she came within 10 minutes and we were allowed to come in, we had a lovely evening with the little boy playing accordeon on his birthday and everybody was happy. Champagne on the house at the end.
  The food is absolutely deliciously prepared, sticks out above most of the other restaurants of this type, many Portuguese go there and many Portuguese friends recommended this restaurant to us.
• Tasca da Estação (opposite of the trainstation)
  Prices: low
  Short description: Best petiscos and, of course, a verdadeira Sandes de Bacalhau!

• Portuguese restaurant Portoa Velho
  Prices: low
  Short description: Typical portuguese lunch inc. bread, olives & wine, followed by meat from the grill, frittas & salad, a dessert and coffee. Very much a local restaurante and very traditional with lovely service from the family owners. If your looking for rustic and a genuine feeling of being in Portugal this is the one.
• Portuguese restaurant Helena
  Prices: Quite high in comparison
  Short description: Helena is a beautiful rustic but classy restaurant tucked away in the back streets of the village and so worth a visit. I believe its evening meals only that need to be booked as they do get busy. The food is top class and one of those special occasion places we always go to. It's the only place we've come across in central Portugal where we had Fado playing whilst we ate but this is only on certain nights so well worth enquiring about that. If you want to wine and dine in rustic style this is your place.

• Portuguese restaurant Aroma D
  Prices: Low to average
  Short description: This is our local village restaurant only opened in last year or so with available rooms to let which are beautifully clean modern and pristine. Family run by Patrice and João the food and service is top class & very busy with both locals and foreigners. You can have your food inside or out under the umbrellas. Very good traditional portuguese dishes and plenty of it, all served with the usual bread olives wine dessert coffee etc. Wa have also eaten here in the evening, we booked and had the most excellent meal with really fine wine which was of course alot more than what you would pay for at lunchtime but still worth every penny. As above getting there early for lunch is recommended.

• Portuguese restaurant Petiscos & Companhia
  Prices: low
  Short Description: Again a typical portuguse lunch with inc. bread, olives, wine, big portions of meat with salads & frittas or vegetables followed by delicious homemade desserts by Theresa and coffee. This is a very popular restaurant with the locals and foreigners so getting there early is a must. One of our favourite lunches is the venison that Luis cooks to perfection. I believe you need to book for an evening meal.